AHSN NETWORK - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Acting Director of Innovation and Growth at the West of England AHSN
- Acting Director of Innovation and Growth, West of England AHSN
- Nurse at King 's College London
Alex trained as a nurse at King's College London and worked across a number of NHS roles and specialised in Infectious Diseases and Haematology. She then moved to the medical device industry, gaining over 20 years of experience with a range of companies selling and marketing products, ranging from consumables, implants, capital equipment, diagnostics and generic pharmaceuticals.
Alex has worked widely across the whole healthcare marketplace and has extensive experience of pathway redesign and business case development. She worked as Commercial Manager for assistive technology charity Designability, leading on the commercialisation and exploitation of new products and services for adults and children living with disabilities.
As Acting Director of Innovation and Growth at the West of England AHSN, Alex has a remit of bringing a whole system approach to matching innovation to locally identified health and care challenges by connecting and brokering relationships between innovators, patients, carers, industry, academia and health and care professionals and creating an ‘innovation ecosystem'.
Amanda Risino - Chief Commercial Officer
Job Titles:
- Commercial Director
- National Director for Adoption and Spread
Amanda has more than 30 years' experience in the NHS with more than 22 years as board director in complex organisations and systems. She initially trained as a physiotherapist, before moving into executive management roles. She worked in broad health and care organisations, including acute, community and mental health services, before taking executive transformation roles spanning entire systems in the North West.
Since 2017, Amanda worked at Health Innovation Manchester as Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Operating Officer. She was instrumental in leading and shaping Health Innovation Manchester, which brought the Greater Manchester Academic Health and Science Network (AHSN) and the Manchester Academic Health Science Centre (MAHSC), National Institute for Health Research Applied Research Collaborative for Greater Manchester (NIHR ARC-GM) together, to focus on driving rapid innovation from discovery through to development then into system adoption.
Amanda's role has been to build a culture of partnerships and collaboration to create a seamless pathway from discovery, science and industry engagement through to adoption and diffusion at pace and scale. This included strategic leadership of Health Innovation Manchester's AHSN commission.
Amanda is passionate about improving standards of healthcare and well-being across the health and social care economy, working with partners, patients and the wider population to rapidly discover, develop and deploy innovations using digital capabilities.
Amanda joined the AHSN Network central team in 2022, to lead work surrounding best practice approaches to adoption and spread of innovation.
Anna King - Chief Commercial Officer
Job Titles:
- Commercial Director
- Commercial Director, Health Innovation Network ( South London )
Originally qualified as a Chartered Accountant with PricewaterhouseCoopers, where she advised health and social care clients such as GSK, Roche and Aventis; Anna has previously held number of senior NHS regional commercial and improvement roles, including Commercial Programme Director at the London Commercial Support Unit.
Anna joined HIN in 2013, and since then her focus has been on building relationships between the NHS and industry. A founder of DigitalHealth.London, she also developed the DigitalHealth.London Accelerator Programme.
Job Titles:
- Commercial Director
- Chief Executive of Health Innovation Manchester
Ben Bridgewater is Chief Executive of Health Innovation Manchester. He is a leading expert on health informatics, national clinical audit, clinical governance, healthcare transparency, patient experience measurement and digital transformation in healthcare, publishing numerous high profile academic outputs and delivering innovative IT tools for disseminating clinical outcomes to professionals and the public.
Prior to joining Health Innovation Manchester, Ben worked for global technology company DXC Technology as the Director of the Healthcare and Lifesciences Global Build Advisory Team. Until January 2016, he was a cardiac surgeon at the University Hospital of South Manchester for nearly 18 years.
Ben also provided clinical leadership for the UK national cardiac audit programme, as well as leading analyses that provides UK hospital and cardiac surgery mortality rates to the public. The programme is world-leading and associated with a 50% reduction in risk-adjusted mortality over 10 years.
Job Titles:
- Commercial Director
- Chief Executive, Wessex AHSN
Bill has been Chief Executive of Wessex AHSN since 2016. He has over 30 years' experience in NHS management, with over 20 operating at Board level in health authorities, Primary Care Trusts and at a regional level.
Nationally, he has led AHSN Network programmes on medicines optimisation and is currently the AHSN Network lead for the Needs Assessment Service within the AAC' s NHS Innovation Service. Wessex is also the lead AHSN for the scaling nationally of the adoption of FeNO as a diagnostic in primary care, one of the AAC' s rapid uptake products.
Locally, Bill has increased the AHSN's integration into the local research and innovation ecosystem with joint appointments with the local Applied Research Collaboration (ARC), Cancer Alliance and Clinical Research Network. The AHSN is also a founder member of Wessex Health Partnerships, the academic health partnership for Wessex brings together ICBs, NHS Trusts and the region's three largest universities.
Job Titles:
- Commercial Director
- Deputy Coordination Director
- Programme Director for Insights and Patient Safety at the Health Innovation Network
Alongside her role in the AHSN Network central team, Catherine Dale is Programme Director for Insights and Patient Safety at the Health Innovation Network, the AHSN for South London. She has over twenty years' experience in the NHS, including more than fifteen years in quality improvement and transformation roles. Catherine led the national Learning Network for Covid Oximetry @home and Covid Virtual Wards.
Catherine has a Master's in Business Psychology and is an expert on co-designing improvements with patients and applying behavioural insights to healthcare. She is a Trustee for the Point of Care Foundation and helped develop their Experience-Based Co-Design toolkit.
Catherine was a Labour Councillor in the London Borough of Southwark from 2014-2018. She is the co-host of the podcast Looking After the NHS.
Job Titles:
- Commercial Director
- Strategy Director and Interim National Coordination Director
Charlotte (Charlie) joined the AHSN Network central team from Blackpool Teaching Hospitals where she was Director of Planning and Delivery leading on strategy, planning and transformation.
She joined the NHS on her birthday in 2007, originally training clinically as a graduate mental health worker in Halton and St Helens before going on to work in research and development and then joining the NHS Graduate Management Training Scheme, where she specialised in General Management.
Danny Bosch - Chief Commercial Officer
Job Titles:
- Commercial Director
- Associate Director of Business Development and Commercial, Imperial College Health Partners
- Imperial College Health Partners As Associate Director of Business Development
Danny Bosch joined Imperial College Health Partners as Associate Director of Business Development and Commercial in September 2022. He is passionate about innovation and has a strong drive to make a meaningful impact to patients' lives around the globe.
Prior to joining the Partnership, Danny supported organisations with their commercial strategy to turn investment into impact. He brings a broad range of international experience from academia, government, and industry (early-stage ventures to multinationals). He has expertise in international industry and academic R&D, commercialisation, procurement, and management consulting. His background in healthcare & life sciences, Ph.D. in Biomedical sciences, and current undertaking of an executive MBA, allows him to apply scientific method to business growth catalysation.
Des Holden - Chief Commercial Officer
Job Titles:
- Commercial Director
- Chief Executive Officer of Kent Surrey Sussex Academic Health Science Network
- Chief Executive Officer, Kent Surrey Sussex AHSN
- Chief of Innovation at SaSH
Des Holden is the Chief Executive Officer of Kent Surrey Sussex Academic Health Science Network (KSS AHSN), previously Medical Director, having been with the organisation throughout its first licence. Des has 10 years of acute hospital board experience as Medical Director at Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust and then Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust (SaSH) until 2019 when the CQC awarded SaSH an outstanding rating.
In addition, Des is now Chief of Innovation at SaSH, a non-executive director of the Southeast Health Technology Alliance (SEHTA), Director of Implementation, NIHR Applied Research Collaboration KSS and an international advisor to Public Intelligence, the Danish organisation running citizen engagement and living lab co-design for new technologies.
Job Titles:
- Commercial Director
- Registered Nurse
- Teacher
- Patient Safety Director
Cheryl is a registered nurse and teacher, having qualified in the 1980s at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham.
Cheryl developed a career in Critical Care Nursing and worked as a Nurse consultant at the City Hospital, Nottingham, and was lead nurse for the Mid Trent Critical Care Network.
She is a recognised author and conference speaker having co-written and edited a text book ‘Nursing the Critically Ill'.
Before this she was a health lecturer at the University of Nottingham. Cheryl was awarded a fellowship at the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement where she trained in patient safety at the Institute of Health Improvement, Harvard. Following this Cheryl has worked in senior roles for the East Midlands Ambulance Service and as Director of Quality and Nursing for three Clinical Commissioning Groups in the South of Nottinghamshire.
Cheryl was previously the executive regional lead for the EMAHSN Patient Safety Collaborative from 2014-2019.
Cheryl is part of the AHSN Network leadership team and is responsible for overseeing the NHS England patient safety commission and overseeing the many patient safety programmes and initiatives.
She is also responsible for ensuring patient safety, as an underpinning AHSN Network theme, spans all our work, as well as raising the profile of the contribution made by AHSNs to improving patient safety.
Job Titles:
- Commercial Director
- Chief Executive Officer, UCLPartners
- Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians
Chris joined UCLPartners in October 2021, initially as Director of the Academic Health Science Network and National Director of the NHS Innovation Accelerator, before being appointed as UCLPartners Chief Executive Officer in February 2022.
Chris is a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and has undertaken specialist training in nephrology, critical care and internal medicine. He continues to practise as a consultant nephrologist at University College London and Royal Free Hospitals, where he is also Honorary Associate Professor of Nephrology.
Chris was speciality training director and clinical lead for nephrology at the Royal Free where he has also worked as the Associate Medical Director for patient safety. He has also worked as the Divisional Clinical Director of Emergency Services at UCLH and as secondary care lead for urgent and emergency care for the North Central London STP.
Chris co-founded and chaired London Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) Network and has clinically led the UCLPartners Patient Safety Programme AKI Improvement Collaborative.
Job Titles:
- Commercial Director
- Commercial Director, Eastern AHSN
- Strategic Advisor to Enhanc3D Genomics
Louise holds a PhD in immunology from Imperial College London and drawing on both her background in science and years of experience in drug discovery, development and commercialisation within academia, biotech and pharmaceutical organisations, she leads the commercial team at Eastern AHSN to develop partnerships and support innovators to refine their business models and value propositions to ensure commercial sustainability.
Louise joined Eastern AHSN from Johnson and Johnson Innovation, where she led partnership activities across Europe, Middle East and Africa to identify and incubate external assets and capabilities to advance the portfolio of the Immunology Therapy Area for Janssen.
Louise is a Strategic Advisor to Enhanc3D Genomics and a mentor on a number of accelerator programmes including Start Codon.
Job Titles:
- Director of Enterprise & Innovation, Yorkshire & Humber AHSN
- NIHR Reviewer
Dr Neville Young joined the Yorkshire & Humber Academic Health Science Network in June 2016. He is responsible for supporting the adoption of high quality innovation that benefits patients and drives efficiencies in the NHS.
Nationally, Neville is currently an NIHR reviewer and sits on the NHS AI Lab Advisory group and is currently Vice Chair of the SBRI cancer panel.
Neville has previously been Chair of the AHSN Clinical Directors Forum and is involved in the AHSN network strategy development, working closely with NICE, ABHI and the ABPI to develop the Network's position on real world evaluation. He also supports UK businesses who wish to export and works closely with Department of International Trade (DIT) and the regional Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).
He has worked as an academic researcher, a drug trial manager, a consultant and as a director for a health tech start up.
He has a doctorate in Molecular Embryology from Kings College London.
Job Titles:
- Commercial Director
- Chief Executive Officer, AHSN North East and North Cumbria
Nicola ensures the smooth running of the AHSN NENC on a day-to-day basis. Since gaining a PhD in Chemistry from Durham University Nicola has worked in a variety of roles supporting business and industry in the North East.
She worked as a Programme Manager and then Head of NHS Innovations North before taking up the position as Innovation Director at the Academic Health Science Network for the North East and North Cumbria in 2013.
Job Titles:
- Commercial Director
- Chief Executive of the Innovation Agency
- Chief Executive, Innovation Agency North West Coast
Dr Phil Jennings is the Chief Executive of the Innovation Agency, the AHSN for the North West Coast. He also continues to practise as a GP and has a specialist interest in cardiology.
On behalf of the AHSN Network, Phil has two roles; as the lead on the Accelerated Access Collaborative (AAC) Rapid Uptake Products Programme, which fast-tracks products which have been proved to significantly improve care; and as the lead for the AAC's Innovation for Healthcare Inequalities Programme.
Phil's previous roles include the Primary Care Lead for the Cheshire and Merseyside Cardiac Network; Chairman of NHS Wirral Clinical Commissioning Group; and deputy medical director at NHS England and NHS Improvement North West.
Phil's podcasts about the Rapid Uptake Products can be heard here.
Job Titles:
- Commercial Director
- Director of Industry and Innovation for Wessex AHSN
After a PhD in genetics Frank moved into commercial research. After time in Syngenta, Pfizer and Boehringer-Ingelheim Frank joined Wessex AHSN in 2015. His commercial experience spans all stages from lab research and IP to major global products.
Frank is now Director of Industry and Innovation for Wessex AHSN, leading on delivery of the Economic Growth commission.
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive Officer of the Oxford AHSN
- Commercial Director, Oxford AHSN / Professor Gary Ford / Chair, the AHSN Network / Chief Executive Officer, Oxford AHSN
Professor Gary Ford CBE was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Oxford AHSN in 2013. He has twice held the post of Vice Chair and was appointed Chair of the AHSN Network in March 2021.
Gary has led the adoption of innovation in stroke care for many years. He remains a practising clinician as a consultant stroke physician at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. He is also Professor of Stroke Medicine at the University of Oxford.
Gary was Director of the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) stroke research network from 2005-2013 and is a member of the NIHR strategy board. He became a non-executive director on the board of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in April 2021.
He developed the first thrombolysis protocol for acute stroke in England and the Face Arm Speech Test (FAST) now used to increase public and professional awareness of stroke and was awarded the CBE in 2013 for services to research in stroke medicine. In 2018 Gary was identified as one of seven research legends whose work has transformed care in the NHS.
Gary is also a Governing Body Fellow of Green Templeton College, Oxford and a trustee of Picker, the international healthcare charity. He has chaired the Executive Board of the Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West (BOB) Sustainability and Transformation Partnership.
James Rose - Chief Commercial Officer
Job Titles:
- Commercial Director
- Commercial Director, Oxford AHSN / Professor Gary Ford / Chair, the AHSN Network / Chief Executive Officer, Oxford AHSN
- Director of Strategic and Industry Partnerships and Commercial Director for Oxford AHSN
James has been working in the life science and healthcare sector for over 15 years in a range of roles focused on research and innovation. Trained as a pharmaceutical chemist, James started his career working in pharma, spending time at both GSK and AstraZeneca in research and development roles, designing and developing new respiratory products.
James gained a PhD in Pharmacy from the University of Nottingham focused on translation and commercialisation of cell and gene therapy, which also saw him secure a scholarship at Harvard-MIT. James spent time in market access consulting before joining the Oxford AHSN to lead a portfolio of innovative health technology projects covering medicines, MedTech and digital innovations. More recently, James has led the AAC Asthma Biologics programme focused on improving access to biologic therapies for severe asthma.
James is currently Director of Strategic and Industry Partnerships and Commercial Director for Oxford AHSN and oversees the AHSN's industry and innovator support across the Thames Valley.
Jon Siddall - Chief Commercial Officer
Job Titles:
- Commercial Director
- Chief Executive Officer, South West AHSN
Jon joined the South West AHSN in April 2020 to continue his work across the health and care system leading innovation, strategy and building partnerships to improve population health.
Before joining the South West AHSN, Jon spent three years as an Executive Director at Guy's and St Thomas' Foundation, leading the design and development of the foundation's £150 million portfolio of urban health programmes focused on some of the biggest health challenges facing cities around the world.
Jon has worked across a range of health and social issues working with funders, investors and government agencies in the UK, Ireland and New Zealand.
Jon has also held a range of non-executive roles, including seats on the advisory boards of the NHS Innovation Accelerator, SBRI Healthcare, the Health Innovation Network, the Research and Development Board of Guy's & St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and the UK Taskforce on Multiple Conditions.
Job Titles:
- Commercial Director
- Programme Manager
- Chairman of a Cornwall Based Charity
- Interim Commercial Director Designate, South West AHSN
Judith joined the SWAHSN in April 2022 as Programme Manager (Digital), and is currently the Interim Programme Director for the Discovery (Innovation) Team.
Prior to this, she has spent her 25+ year career developing and delivering programmes in economic growth, employment and skills, voluntary sector and community development in the public and private sectors. She has significant experience in supporting businesses to grow, developing strategic responses to government policy and leading teams to achieve. She has also run an Arts Centre, theatre and cinema, working with local artists to support access to markets, and provided routes to £8m of European funding for organisations and business in Cornwall.
Judith is currently Chair of a Cornwall based charity supporting individuals and communities across Cornwall from food and benefits assistance, to job seeking, entrepreneurism and family support. She has significant Trustee and governance experience. She is passionate about collaborative working, having a positive impact and doing what you can to make the world a little better for all.
Laura Semple - Chief Commercial Officer
Job Titles:
- Commercial Director
- Director for National Programmes
Laura's leadership approach is driven by deep personal commitments to improving health and reducing inequalities locally and globally.
She originally joined the NHS as a general management scheme trainee and in her career to date has worked in acute sector operational management; commissioning; and more recently in a variety of innovation adoption roles within the Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs).
Laura joined the AHSN Network central team from the Health Foundation, where she worked as Assistant Director for Improvement carrying responsibility for the Foundation's improvement grants portfolio and the UK-wide Anchor Institutions programme. Prior to that Laura was Programme Director for Diabetes and Cardiovascular at the Health Innovation Network, the AHSN for South London, and Programme Director for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Obesity at King's Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre.
Alongside her NHS roles, Laura volunteers with King's Global Health Partnerships in Zambia and in 2017 completed a six month volunteering project with King's in Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Laura is Director for National Programmes. She works with all 15 AHSNs in England to deliver the innovation programmes selected for adoption in all ICSs and providers in England. The current AHSN national programme portfolio includes innovations in mental health and neurodevelopment, cardiovascular, respiratory, medicines and wound care, as well as a suite of medical technologies addressing a wide range of health conditions.
Job Titles:
- Commercial Director
- Interim Co - Director of Enterprise and Growth, Innovation Agency North West Coast
Lindsay Sharples has a strong track record of supporting innovation in health and care and securing funding to introduce innovations to the NHS from around the world.
She is responsible for the Innovation Agency's three ERDF funded business support programmes - in Cheshire and Warrington; Liverpool City Region; and Lancashire. She also heads a team of international programme managers who work with overseas business and research bodies such as EIT Health, on funded programmes to bring cutting edge innovations to the NHS.
Her focus is to develop successful partnerships with academia, research institutions, NHS providers, local authorities and private sector partners to maximise opportunities for economic growth in the North West Coast, supported by local, national and international funding.
Mark Kewley - Chief Commercial Officer
Job Titles:
- Commercial Director
- Director of Strategy, Imperial College Health Partners
- Imperial College Health Partners in 2019 As a Director of Strategy
Mark has been helping lead strategy within the NHS for nearly ten years, with a focus on integrating care in London. Prior to that he was a civil servant in Whitehall focusing on health policy and public sector reform.
He has helped organisations shape and deliver their strategies at all tiers of the public sector, including roles as: senior policy advisor at 10 Downing Street, where he authored the Prime Minister's 2011 Life Sciences Vision; Lead Strategist at Chelsea and Westminster NHS Foundation Trust; and as Director of Transformation for Southwark CCG.
More recently, Mark has worked at regional level as Director for Digital Strategy and Transformation and was a Programme Director for the OneLondon programme.
Mark joined Imperial College Health Partners in 2019 as a Director of Strategy. He is Chief Officer for the Academic Health Sciences Network designation, including ICHP's work on local innovation, economic growth, and patient safety.
Mike Kenny - Chief Commercial Officer
Job Titles:
- Commercial Director
- Chairman of the AHSN Network Commercial Directors Forum
- Interim Co - Director of Enterprise and Growth, Innovation Agency North West Coast
Mike Kenny is currently the Chair of the AHSN Network Commercial Directors Forum, which brings together all 15 AHSN commercial directors to share knowledge and co-ordinate national commercial activities.
Mike has a wealth of knowledge and experience of customer relationship management and a successful track record of partnership and collaboration with NHS providers and commissioners in the North West Coast.
He uses his relationship management experience to bring innovations into the North West Coast through engagement with industry, pharmaceutical companies, Local Enterprise Partnerships, innovation hubs, NHS, academia, local authorities and small to medium enterprises.
He previously spent more than 20 years in the pharmaceutical industry in a variety of commercial, partnership and leadership roles in the North West and North East of England and Yorkshire. Mike studied genetics and microbiology at Lancaster University, one of the Innovation Agency's academic and business partners.
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive Officer, West of England AHSN
A graduate of the NHS management training scheme, Natasha has over 20 years' experience in the NHS as a senior manager and leader.
Natasha has worked in both commissioning and provider organisations gaining experience of leading adult and child mental health, children's community and acute services, adult surgical and specialist renal and transplantation services. Natasha has an MSc in Leadership and Development of Public Sector Organisations and has completed development programmes focussed on leadership, coaching and mentoring.
Natasha joined the West of England AHSN (which hosts the Polypharmacy programme on behalf of the AHSN Network) as Chief Operating Officer in 2015 and became CEO early in 2018.
Natasha is National Lead for Patient Safety for the AHSN Network.
Natasha is also the Senior Responsible Officer for the Polypharmacy programme.
Job Titles:
- Commercial Director
- Managing Director, East Midlands AHSN
Nicole is the accountable officer for the East Midlands AHSN.
She has a wealth of experience working in diagnostics, medical technology and pharmaceutical industries, with an excellent track record of building relationships between industry and health and care stakeholders both in the UK and internationally. Significant experience gained in all aspects of commercialising innovations and focusing on the outcomes required.
Nuala Foley - Chief Commercial Officer
Job Titles:
- Commercial Director
- Portfolio Lead Commercial and Partnerships, Kent Surrey Sussex AHSN
Nuala Foley co-leads on our commercial and industry engagement with health tech companies and their networks, to support them and their business with their route into the NHS and further growth and spread.
She comes from an industry (mainly SME) background, having worked with companies across every sector with their innovation and commercialisation. In her role in KSS AHSN she oversees the Office of Life Science commission and represents KSS AHSN in the commercial directors national AHSN network.
Nuala has vast experience in navigating the funding landscape and in supporting companies to develop their strategic plan and to understand their customer base and value proposition for their target customer.
Job Titles:
- Commercial Director
- Chief Executive, Eastern AHSN
- Eastern AHSN As Chief Executive
Piers joined Eastern AHSN as Chief Executive in 2018. He was formerly a Partner at KPMG, where he held a variety of roles including leading the firm's healthcare management consulting practice. Piers was Chair of the AHSN Network from 2019 to 2021 and also led a team at NHS Test and Trace to identify and implement a range of innovative technologies in diagnostic testing during the early period of Covid-19. Piers is an experienced advisor to Boards and also holds an executive coaching qualification from Henley Business School. He is regularly invited to speak at health conferences and academic programmes on innovation. Piers is a Chartered Accountant (ACA), having trained and qualified with KPMG.
Richard Deed - Chief Commercial Officer
Job Titles:
- Commercial Director
- Associate Commercial Director, Health Innovation Manchester
As Associate Commercial, Richard manages Health Innovation Manchester's commercial business unit/team and its associated innovation pipeline, working with industry and other innovation suppliers to develop solutions that support improved health outcomes for patients and population of Greater Manchester and Cheshire East.
Richard is particularly focused on SME support and manages the Office of Life Science (OLS) funded, ERDF-funded, and other externally funded programmes and liaises closely with GM HEIs and NHS organisations to evaluate and adopt developed solutions.
Richard's experience spans more than 30 years, and includes the identification, evaluation, and commercialisation of healthcare innovations, combining his knowledge of healthcare, business development and intellectual property management with a previous career in clinical academic research.
Richard is also an expert adviser and assessor on many healthcare innovation programmes, including those for SBRI for Healthcare, the National Innovation Accelerator and regional awards programmes for Bionow and other regional Academic and Healthcare organisations.
Job Titles:
- Vice Chair
- Chief Executive, Yorkshire and Humber AHSN
Chief Executive Officer at Yorkshire and Humber AHSN and Vice Chair of the AHSN Network, Richard is a leading health innovation expert who passionately believes in the role of technology and life sciences in improving patient care and driving economic growth, and through his varied non-executive and voluntary roles, Richard has an established track record of bringing together sectors and regions in ways that benefit health, skills and growth.
As a long-standing member of the NHS Assembly, as Vice-Chair of the AHSN Network, which represents the 15 AHSNs across England, as a member of The Health Foundations adopting Innovation advisory group, and as a commissioner for the NHS Innovation and Life Sciences Commission, Richard is helping to shape the future of the NHS and to steer major health innovation programmes. In 2022 Richard created the new national Innovate Awards to recognise and reward health innovators across the NHS and industry, in partnership with the NHS Confederation.
Commitment to diversity and inclusion runs through everything Richard does, and he has twice been recognised by the Health Service Journal in their Top 50 BAME Powerlist as "one of the BAME figures exercising the most power and influence in English health policy." As Co-Chair of the NHS Confederation's BME Leadership Network, and a member of the NHS Confederation's NED Task Force, he plays a central role in increasing diversity within the NHS leadership. Richard is passionate about the importance of greater diversity within innovation and has conceived a national programme which seeks to address this issue, this work led to a series of pledges which have been adopted nationally by the AHSNs.
Job Titles:
- Commercial Director
- Chief Executive, Health Innovation Network ( South London )
Rob Chesters - Chief Commercial Officer
Job Titles:
- Commercial Director
- Economic Growth and Pipeline Director
Russ Watkins - Chief Commercial Officer
Job Titles:
- Commercial Director
- Commercial Director, Innovation, Economic Growth & NENC Ecosystem, AHSN North East and North Cumbria
Sian Trew - Chief Commercial Officer
Job Titles:
- Commercial Director
- Director of Communications and Engagement
Stuart Monk - Chief Commercial Officer
Job Titles:
- Commercial Director
- National Programme Director - Rapid Uptake Products and MedTech Funding Mandate
Job Titles:
- Commercial Director
- Director of Enterprise, UCLPartners
Tim Robinson - Chief Commercial Officer
Job Titles:
- Commercial Director
- Commercial Director, East Midlands AHSN